Strings and Things
by Pseudinymous
Summary: Maddie was once observed complaining to Jack about an incident where he'd sent the whole house into another dimension. As it turns out, she really wasn't joking; this is what happens when you leave Jack alone with the kids and an already-functional portal that can bridge the gap between realities. [Pre-TUE]


**Author's Note:  
**Anyone else remember Maddie and Jack having a short conversation about the time Jack sent their whole house to another dimension?

That.

Pre-TUE. Probably Pre-My Brother's Keeper, too. This will be short, hence the tiny beginning chapter.

**Disclaimer:  
**If nothing really exists then I don't actually own anything at all. … That was the most depressing and ineffective disclaimer ever.

* * *

**Strings and Things**  
A fanfic by Pseudinymous

~ **1** ~

_- It Helps When You Turn The Power On –_

* * *

"Accidents happen, kids. And the best way you can deal with that is by going in prepared!" Jack boomed, voice surely rumbling the house foundations around the basement walls. Jazz was looking away distractedly, tapping the notepad on top of her lap with a pen. And Danny was looking up at his father, trying not to put more meaning into the statement than was absolutely necessary.

One particularly serious accident, after all, was more than enough for his entire life. And to say that he'd been prepared for it was a gross overstatement.

"Dad…" Jazz mumbled, referencing her notepad. "I made a reasonable comparison between the benefits this will bring versus the possible risks. _Why is the ratio one to twenty_?!"

"But the one's the most important part!" Jack huffed. "All of those risks are tiny, this'll be great!"

Jazz was incredulous, but not nearly as much as she would have been if she hadn't known her father very well. "This will _not _be great," she insisted. "Come on, wait until mum gets home! In fact, don't do it at all! Saying those risks are tiny is like saying the Hiroshima bomb _wasn't that bad_!"

Danny couldn't agree with his sister more; one dimension full of ghosts was more than enough, and now Jack was thinking of busting open the door to _another _dimension filled with God-knows what? He'd rather just reveal his ghost form to them both right then and there, place himself in the Fenton Weasel, and wait for whatever terrible punishments came next. Heaven knew they might be opening the gates to Hell itself. Not even Jack seemed to know where his 'coordinates' would land the portal.

On the topic of coordinates, these were some of the strangest Danny had ever known. They certainly didn't look Cartesian, a point Jazz was arguing with some vigour in scientific language Danny couldn't hope to understand. The only words and phrases that really stuck out were '_strings_', '_another dimension_', and '_certain death_', and that last one was really the only one Danny truly cared about.

"Let's just wait until mum gets back," Danny chimed in, adding to the chorus Jazz seemed to be squawking. "Look, you can even go fishing! In the ghost portal! I'll let you teach me anything about ghosts you can think of!"

"Nice try, son, but I think you've got plenty of knowledge about ghosts for now!" claimed the beefy man, to the general scoffing and choking of his daughter. "I've got more exciting things to do than fishing for ghosts, today! And no time to wait for your mother, either!"

"The only reason you don't have time to wait for her is because you _know _she'd tell you not to!" Jazz urged, but no, too late. Jack was already there, brandishing the two wires proudly above his head. And he was grinning a grin that neither Fenton child had seen since he was turning on the ghost portal.

"BONSAI!" He screamed, plugging the two together. The portal sparked ominously for a moment, and then flickered out. Jazz, after confirming that she was still alive, wasn't particularly happy.

"There, it didn't work. And honestly Dad, at least use the switch rather than just plugging it in like that!"

A brief look of misunderstanding passed over the ghost hunter's face, and for a moment he dropped the cabling and brought a black gloved hand up to his face, where he held his chin. This pose didn't last long, as he soon displayed his Face of Dawning Enlightenment.

Danny and Jazz flinched, reflexively.

"You're right, Jazz, that's a great idea!" Jack boomed. Jazz's face fell.

"_What's_ a great idea, dad?"

"To turn it on, Jazzy-pants! I haven't turned on the switch!"

A wave of terrified familiarity washed over Danny, and he watched his father in horror as he started towards the _inside _of the Fenton Ghost Portal, where the switch was still located. _Oh no_, he thought, and then he thought it again several more times before he could even think about reacting. "Dad!" Danny called. "You can't just turn that on from the inside, you have to cut the power first and then use the lever on the outside once you're done in there!"

Jack stopped. For a frightening moment Danny thought his father might - despite all logical reasoning – simply ignore him. But he didn't. Jack was thankfully sometimes a lot smarter than he appeared... although it was just a shame that that common sense didn't carry over to deciding not to conduct the experiment at all.

"Right, okay. Thanks Danny! I could've gotten killed in there!" Jack exclaimed, having fixed the setup so that he _wouldn't _electrocute himself to death.

Danny didn't say a thing. The distant but painful memory of electricity racing through his body was quite enough.

"I don't know whether to watch on in horror or run upstairs and barricade the lounge room," said Jazz, sickly. "This has got to be the worst idea since the ghost portal's conception."

"Yeah, and the Fenton Portal _worked_!" said Jack proudly, giving the outer metal rung an affectionate bang with his fist. "Well… eventually, anyway."

There was a silence. Jazz seemed to have conceded defeat with convincing her father to stop the madness, and was now eyeing the staircase and probably plotting out her means of escape between all the mess in the laboratory. Danny was looking the other way towards the cupboards, which would have to do as a means of transformation at the first sign of real trouble. And Jack… Jack just looked _thrilled_.

"Tesla would've thought this was a bad idea, and _he _tried to build an _earthquake machine_…" Jazz muttered under her breath. She wasn't questioned, or even particularly listened to.

"Alright kids!" said Jack, standing over at the main power lever. "Time to get this baby started!"

And oh, _did it ever start_.

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**Naw, Jack found something more important than ghosts for once. :P I'm sure he'll change his mind again soon.


End file.
